In the manufacture of display devices, warning devices, reflectors and the like it has become popular to utilize in a single such device more than a single element, and, in particular, it has become common to employ two or more different types of plastic materials in combination to form such a device, owing not only to the manufacturing economies associated with the use of plastic materials, but also to the superior effectiveness and use properties of the resulting devices made therewith.
When utilizing such plastic materials to manufacture such a device, it is usual first to form the separate elements or subassemblies, as by molding, extruding, or the like. Then, thereafter, such formed elements are assembled into the desired display or other device. Such an assembly procedure can involve such an appreciable amount of labor that a product device has an excessive cost associated with its manufacture, as many manufacturers have found to their detriment. It is therefore of basic importance in the manufacture of plastic display devices utilizing two or more different plastic elements in respective performed configurations to so construct such individual elements as to minimize the subsequent labor required to complete assembly of the final product device.
One particularly common construction utilized in a variety of display and warning devices incorporates a reflective border member which circumscribes an interior area. Sometimes the entire interior area is itself a place for display of information; other times, such interior area is left open except perhaps in areas adjacent the border member. Contemporary construction practice involves the use of reflex reflector panels as such border members; such panels are separately formed or molded of a polymer, such as an acrylic resin, or the like. These reflectorized panels are then mounted into a pre-formed border frame member or members, formed of a vinyl polymer, or the like, in a subsequent assembly operation.
Another common construction used in display and warning devices incorporates an interior area comprised of a reflective member and a border circumscribing such member. This construction is similarly fabricated.
It is typical that such a product device is costly owing to the large number of assembly steps and time-consuming operations utilized in such assembly operation. Furthermore, it is very common to find that the product device is not as ruggged as desired and may be easily damaged or injured in normal use environments, so that the product device has a short life.
The art is continuously seeking new and better techniques for fabricating such devices in a more efficient and economical manner, and so as to have improved rigidity and stability over a wide variety of use conditions.